Suggestions on mid to upper-mid quality fabric sofas

Hi everyone- I'm excited to find this forum, found a link from the Gardenweb forum which seems to get way too much spam and very few replies. I've just started to browse for a new sofa for the family room. I just bought 2 Bradington Young leather recliners for the room, which make the 12-year old cheapo sofa look even dingier than before! I got the BY recliners shipped from SC and am very happy with them.

I'm wondering what brands to explore for the sofa. I don't want something too expensive, maybe spending up to 2K. I took a look in the local Ethan Allen, Thomasville, and Bassett showrooms and wasn't extremely impressed with any. Thomasville was the only store that claimed to use kiln-dried hardwood frames, while the other 2 use plywood. (and btw, is a 7-layer block of hardwood as strong as kiln-drief wood?)

One last related question- we only have 2 local stores (i.e. ranging from 30 to 90 minutes away) that have the higher end brands. It felt a bit strange when I went to these stores to look at the BY chairs, knowing I wouldn't order them there because the prices are so much lower in NC and SC (I paid $1125 per chair vs. $2000 here in WA). However, I wouldn't feel comfortable ordering a sofa if I hadn't sat on one of the brands I'm considering. Thoughts on that? Thank you!

Welcome to the "Better than Gardenweb" forum!

Are you looking for a fabric sofa, or a leather one? If leather, that $ 2K price range is a bit tough to work in quite honestly. Put another $ 1K or so behind it and you can step up to better quality pieces. However at the $ 2K budget in fabric, that's do-able. What kind of style are you looking for?

"Engineered Hardwood Laminate" which is a fancy name for high-quality plywood has good strength characteristics but is prone to twisting (or racking) moreso than a hardwood frame. If you stand at the front corner of a solid hardwood sofa frame and lift the sofa up by only the one corner, you will see it rise about 1.5" to 2" off the floor. Do the same on a Laminate frame sofa and the other front leg won't lift off until the 3" to 5" mark. That's frame twist because the plywood doesn't have the torsional strength of the hardwood frame. For most, this is not an issue because the sofa get set in a spot and stays there, but if you're military or move around a lot, every time that plywood piece is handled the frame suffers. So no, the frame is not nearly as robust and its strictly a cost savings move.

About 80% of the people that use this forum buy long-distance. Check out their reviews and experiences and see what they have to say.

Hi Duane,

I'm looking for a fabric sofa. Thanks for the explanation on the plywood vs. hardwood frames. I'm not sure how big of a deal that will be with us because the sofa will not be moving. That said, what brands would you suggest?

Thomasville, Bassett, Ethan Allen from what I understand have shifted manufacturing overseas (china?). FlexSteel can be China or US made. I have gone with Smith Brothers but if you don't have a dealer nearby you're not going to find much about them on the internet. Can you list what other brands you have seen nearby? Also if there is a BY sofa you might be interested in I suggest sending Duane a PM Duane about it

For fabric sofas I like Taylor King (King's Road Collection keeps the price down), and Hancock and Moore if you can find one in the Town and Country program in a cover that you like. The H&M's get pricey out of the program.

Look under the LEATHER category for the 2011 H&M Town and Country program for available styles and cover list.